Background
of HIPAA
The HIPAA regulations are divided into two major parts. Title I covers
portability to provide that people covered by employer-sponsored insurance
with preexisting conditions can receive healthcare coverage for that condition
from the next employer. This was implemented shortly after passage of
HIPAA in 1996. See
the HIPAA Timeline for the progression of these regulations.
Title II of HIPAA includes privacy, security and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and electronic transaction and code set regulations and the implementation has been much more gradual and is still in process.
Electronic data interchange and electronic transaction and code sets are part of the continuing federal efforts towards administrative simplification which seeks to promote efficiency in healthcare claims and reimbursement by standardizing Submission of claims. These efforts began in the early 1990s with the Clinton administration and are still continuing today through the evolving HIPAA regulations. This part of HIPAA will reduce the number of forms and formats for submitting information for reimbursement.
Title II is the effort by the federal government to establish a uniform federal law for privacy and security standards throughout the country. In some cases HIPAA is more protective than existing laws and in other situations, it provides less protection than current laws. The protection of the privacy of the health information of minors is a good example where HIPAA defers to existing state laws to protect the minor’s rights. It defers to state laws covering the protection of confidentiality for minors seeking birth control. Overall HIPAA privacy regulations seek to provide the greatest protection for patient health information and the patient’s right to know about and to control access to personal health information. HIPAA has become the benchmark by which other federal and state laws must be measured to determine which is to be followed. As HIPAA evolves, there will be more additions and changes to the regulations.
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